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Following border clashes between India and China at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, the US said that it “strongly opposes” any unilateral attempt to advance territorial claims.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at the daily briefing that the US is “closely” monitoring the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the aftermath of clashes and is in “close contact” with its Indian “partners”.
Price declined to detail conversations with India but stated, “We are glad to hear that both sides appear to have quickly disengaged from the clashes,” Price said and went on to appeal to the two countries to discuss their boundary disputes utilising the existing bilateral channels.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also expressed similar sentiments. “We are glad to hear that both sides appear to have quickly disengaged from the clashes. We are closely monitoring the situation. We encourage India and China to utilise existing bilateral channels to discuss disputed boundaries,” she said.
Price was responding to questions about clashes between contingents of the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Tawang sector last week.
The Chinese soldiers, numbering about 300, came armed with tasers, knuckle dusters and other weapons – but not guns as per a bilateral pact not to use arms in the border. The Indian side deployed reinforcements and “compelled” them to return to their posts, said the Indian defence minister.
The largely unmarked LAC has seen several such clashes, of late with Galwan in Ladakh region in 2020 when 20 Indian soldiers were injured at the time and many Chinese soldiers too killed or injured.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Indian American member of the House of Representatives, expressed concern over the clashes and said, “I’m disturbed to learn of the latest show of aggression by the Chinese Communist Party through its violation of Indian territory with its armed forces.”
He said the clashes are a reminder of the growing belligerence of the Chinese Communist Party and the need for the United States to continue to work with India in the region to counter Beijing’s aggression.
The incident on Dec 9, 2022 happened when Chinese troops in Yangtse in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh clashed with three different battalions — Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, Jat regiment and Sikh Light Infantry — were present at the location in a bid to change the status quo in the border territory.
